


Heartbeats Like Thunderclaps

by Kiraly



Category: A Redtail's Dream (Webcomic)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling, Fluff, M/M, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 20:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7136117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraly/pseuds/Kiraly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannu gets caught in a thunderstorm and just wants to get home to Ville. But Ville has his own problems with thunder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartbeats Like Thunderclaps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yuuago](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuago/gifts).



> This is another gift for the birthday giveaway I did on Tumblr, based on Yuuago's request for something cuddly/fluffy with Hannu and Ville. (How could I say no to that? The answer is, I couldn't, I will be writing fluffy fics about these two forever). I hope you like it, Yuu!

Thunder growled. Hannu growled back, pulling his coat closer around his neck. Not like it made any difference—water ran in rivulets from his hair and soaked his shirt, sending cold tendrils down his back. _Stupid rain. You just had to show up on the day I wore a coat without a hood._ The mud squishing beneath his shoes wasn’t pleasant either, and water seeped into his socks. _This is the worst day ever._

The Kuikka twins had protested his decision to leave the bakery, of course. “It’s _pouring,_ Hannu! At least wait until it slows down!” Jonna had said.

Joona had gone so far as to stand in front of the door. “Don’t be a crazy person, you’re going to get soaked.”

Crazy or not, Hannu wasn’t about to listen to their advice. It had been raining for most of the day—all except for the beautiful morning, which had tricked him into leaving the house—and there was no sign that it planned to stop anytime soon. If he stayed at work, people would think he was supposed to be _working._ Jouko would probably find something else for him to do just to keep him busy. No, better to go home, even if he got soaked in the process. It had made sense at the time.

Now that he was actually out in the storm, he was starting to think extra work might have been a better choice. The rain was getting _everywhere._ It was the kind of downpour that had no respect for boundaries like clothes, and Hannu thought it might actually be seeping through his skin at this point. _By the time I get out of this, I’m going to be more water than human. At least I’m almost home. Maybe Ville has something hot waiting for me._

Knowing Ville, the “something hot” would probably be made of hot dogs, but there might also be cocoa or coffee, and at this point Hannu was too wet and cold to care what he put in his mouth, as long as it could warm him up. He was glad Ville had stayed behind today; he’d wanted to get some housework done in the morning, and the rain must have kept him indoors instead of joining Hannu at the bakery like he usually did. _That is kind of weird, though. Usually he’d come anyway, Ville likes rain. I wonder what he’s up to._

After what seemed like an eternity, Hannu reached his front door and stumbled into the blessedly dry front hall. He stood at the entrance for a minute while water streamed from his hair and clothes. He’d have to clean up the puddle later. Hannu shook his head—water droplets flew everywhere—and knelt to wrestle with his shoelaces. By the time he got them off, it dawned on him that the house was quiet, apart from the rain beating on the roof. Too quiet.

“Ville?” Only thunder for an answer.

Hannu walked further into the house, squelching as he went. No sign of Ville in the kitchen; it was clean, which meant he _had_ been there earlier, but none of his usual food preparations cluttered the counter. The bathroom had been cleaned too, when Hannu paused to peel off his sodden socks and sweater and hang them to dry. Still no Ville, though. With a sigh, Hannu continued on to the bedroom.

Hannu found more evidence of Ville’s cleaning spree—all of the clothes that usually littered the floor were tidied away—but not his roommate. _This is so weird. Maybe he went to visit someone and decided to wait for the rain to stop? I guess he could be at Paju’s house, or Riikka’s._

Standing around in wet clothes wasn’t going to solve the mystery of Ville’s whereabouts. Hannu stripped off the rest of his soaked garments and dug a clean-enough pair of sweatpants out of the laundry. He was about to open the closet to look for a shirt when a crash of thunder rattled the windows. In the deafening silence that followed, something in the closet whimpered.

“Ville?” Hannu pulled the door open. Two mysteries solved: the usual chaos of clothes had been relocated to the floor of the closet. And Ville huddled among them,  back wedged in the corner and hands over his ears. When he looked up, his eyes were wet.

“H-hannu?”

“What are you doing in there?” Hannu demanded. “I thought something had—why are you crying?”

Ville didn’t get a chance to answer before thunder rolled again, but his reaction told Hannu everything he needed to know. Ville yelped and covered his ears again, buried his face in his knees.

Hannu sighed. “I forgot you used to be terrified of thunder when you were—well, you know. Before. I guess some things don’t change.” Except, when dog-Ville had been scared of storms, Hannu had been able to pet him and mutter silly nonsense until he calmed down. It felt weird to do that with human-Ville. But...Ville was still Ville. Hannu couldn’t just leave him there.

“Can you come out?” Hannu asked. Ville didn’t look up, just shook his head. Hannu sighed. “Fine. Move over, I’m coming in.”

Somehow they both fit, though by the time they arranged themselves so no one had an elbow in their ribs Hannu was certain it would have been easier to haul Ville out of the closet instead. He was glad he hadn’t, though, when the next crack of thunder made Ville hide his face in Hannu’s chest. Hannu brought an arm around Ville’s shoulders and patted his hair. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s only thunder. We’ve faced worse, right? Remember those snakes, and the lightning? This isn’t nearly as bad.”

Ville sniffled and raised his head just enough to look up at Hannu. “I...I guess?” He made no move to get out of Hannu’s personal space, just shifted so his head was on Hannu’s shoulder instead. “B-but it’s so loud…”

“It’s getting farther away though,” Hannu pointed out. “It’ll be over soon.”

“And you’ll stay here with me until it’s done?” Ville asked. The arm he’d flung around Hannu’s waist tightened.

“Sure, sure,” Hannu said. The closet floor wasn’t exactly the most comfortable place to sit, and he still hadn’t found a dry sweater or something to eat, but...now that he was out of his wet clothes, he was starting to get warmer. Being tangled up in Ville’s limbs probably helped. Even though he shivered in fear every time the thunder came around, Ville radiated heat. _There are worse ways to warm up,_ Hannu thought. He dropped his head to rest on Ville’s and settled in to wait.

Eventually, the noise of the storm receded from a roar to a dull murmur. Ville’s shivering subsided. He heaved a sigh that ruffled Hannu’s hair and opened his eyes. Then he blinked, looked at the bare skin beneath his cheek as though just now noticing it. “Hannu...why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” He sounded like his normal self again, not the frightened puppy he’d been.

Hannu snorted. “Because I got soaked on the way home from work, and _someone_ made a nest out of my sweaters. So if you don’t mind moving now, I’d be happy to put one on.”

“Oh! Of course.” Ville started to extract himself from the closet, but the two of them were so intertwined that the process required Hannu to move too. After some pushing and a split second where their faces were _very_ close together, they managed to free themselves. Hannu turned back to find a sweater, but before he could Ville caught him in a fierce hug. Hannu’s ear pressed against Ville’s chest, and he could hear his heart beating loud as thunder.

“Thank you!” Ville said. His voice rumbled around his heartbeat. “I’m sorry I’m such a scaredy-dog, I promise I’ll make it up to you! What do you want for dinner?”

Hannu wanted a lot of things—some space and some coffee and enough time to put a shirt on. But it wasn’t so bad, standing here with Ville’s arms around him. He could put up with it. And after being soaked, worried, and crammed in a closet, it was nice to have a moment to just...be.

“Hannu?” Ville prompted.

Hannu raised his eyes to meet Ville’s. “Oh, I’m not picky. Just as long as it’s warm.”

Ville rested his forehead on Hannu’s, silky curls brushing against the half-dried strands of Hannu’s hair. “Sure. I can do warm.” He held Hannu’s gaze, soft blue eyes no longer fraught with storm clouds. Ville smiled, and the sun came out.

Maybe Hannu didn’t need that sweater after all.

**Author's Note:**

> My favorite things with this pair: Hannu getting soaked (it's totally canon!) and Hannu having to comfort Ville. Bonus points for Hannu comforting Ville and finding comfort himself.
> 
> I had a HARD time with the ending for this one. Originally there was going to be a scene at the end with the two of them bantering about dinner, but it got cut out (along with many many lines trying to transition from bedroom to kitchen, an attempt at kissing, and Hannu finally getting to put a shirt on.) Anyway, imagine this conversation happening sometime later:
> 
> “I’m going to cook you the best dinner, Hannu!” Ville said.  
> Hannu snorted. “Really? How are you going to make the best dinner out of hot dogs?”  
> “Hey! I can cook more than just hot dogs!” Ville protested. At Hannu’s incredulous look, he added, “Well, I mean, I can cook hot dogs in a lot of different ways.” 
> 
> Also, I really wanted to include some kind of "Do you _have_ to put a shirt on? I kind of like you better this way" line from Ville, but this just isn't that kind of fic.


End file.
